Leaky Sink
by f.f. lindy
Summary: A tricky man, a leaky sink, and happy ending


Title: Leaky sink  
  
Author: f.f lindy  
  
Disclaimer: I say it because I have to  
  
I sat on my couch and listening to the ringing on the other side of the line as I held the phone to my ear. I sighed heavily and brought the phone down to turn it off, knowing after eight rings that the superintendent was not going to answer his phone. The sink was dripping, it had been dripping for what seemed like an eternity, and I had hardly slept. Every drop seemed to echo thought the house like a gunshot every time the lights went out. When I heard a knock on the door I looked around my apartment quickly, the soft yellow light of my lamp slightly illuminating my living room, then I got up to answer it. A handsome man, one of my favorite people in the world, stood on the other side when I looked through the peep hole, despite the fatigue of little sleep I smiled widely and opened the door. "What are you up to, stranger?" I asked.  
  
"I was just coming by to see how you're doing. You were a disaster yesterday."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"It means no amount of make-up could hide the dark circles under your eyes and I think I heard you typing speed drop by 30 words per minute in two days. You were tired," Mulder observed.  
  
"I was." I admitted, but not ready to admit I still was.  
  
"You still are." He read my mind. "Why?"  
  
"My sink has a drip, a really bad one, and the sound bothers me until I fall asleep, and as soon as I get to sleep I have dreams that they're gunshots. And I get so scared I wake up."  
  
"Gunshots scare you?"  
  
"In my dreams every shot kills someone," I said softly.  
  
"A drip isn't that hard to fix is it? Why don't you call the super?"  
  
"I have, he doesn't answer his phone, and when he does he never actually get around to fixing it."  
  
"I'll fix it for you," he offered.  
  
"Mulder I hate to break it to you, but you aren't a plumber."  
  
"I could be a plumber," he said. "Where do you keep your tools?"  
  
"Tools? I have a hammer."  
  
"That'll work." I retrieved the hammer and handed it to him. "Now stand back and watch as your amazing partner fixes your sink."  
  
"I don't think you can do it, Mulder."  
  
"I bet you I can."  
  
"Oh yeah, what do you want to bet?" I asked, assuming he'd back down.  
  
"If I don't get it fixed I won't make you chase any "fictional creatures" for two months." He put finger quotes around, "fictional creatures." "But if I can get it fixed you have to come with me to my cousin's birthday party and pretend to be my girlfriend."  
  
"What?" I asked in response to his rather out of the blue request.  
  
"My cousin turns forty next week and they're making me go to her party because the whole family is going to be there, but every time I get together with that side of my family they make me feel like a failure for not even having a girlfriend. So, last time I was with them I decided I'd just make up a girlfriend, the problem is that I made up you, as my girlfriend, and now they want to meet you."  
  
"Mulder!"  
  
"I came over here to ask you in a nice way, but this was just more convenient."  
  
"And what are you going to do if you can't fix it?  
  
"If I can't fix it?" He thought for a minute. "Tell them you got hit by a bus and I had to stay home to attend your funeral."  
  
"You're a liar."  
  
"You can't fix a sink," he teased. He opened the doors that lead under the sink and lay down on the ground with his head inside the cabinet. He took the hammer and began to tap on it a little. Nothing happened. "Alright," he said victoriously, "all I need now is a sponge."  
  
I opened another drawer and pulled out a sponge. I handed it to him and he slid out from under the sink. He stood up, brushed himself off and leaned over the sink. Drip. "Okay Mr. Plumber, it's still making the noise." Mulder set the sponge in the sink under the faucet that was leaking. Splop.  
  
"Fixed."  
  
"What? You didn't fix it."  
  
"It stopped making the noise, therefore I won," he told me.  
  
"You did not. It's still leaking."  
  
"Okay, you wait here, I'll be right back."  
  
"Where are you going?" I whined.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll get the sink fixed, you just wait here."  
  
So, I sat back down on the couch and waited. I turned on the tv after ten minutes because I figured he was going to be a while. After five minutes of channel surfing Mulder knocked on the door then opened it before I had a chance to get up. In tow was my superintendent, with a box of tools. "Mr. Williams!" I was caught off guard and quickly picked up my shoes from the doorway, with biggest mess that was visible in the apartment.  
  
"Where's the faucet?" he asked. I pointed him in the right direction.  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Williams. If you could lock up when you leave it would be helpful, Ms. Scully and I are going to go out to dinner," Mulder said officially.  
  
"I'll be sure and do that, Mulder. Maybe I'll see you around again."  
  
"I hope so," Mulder smiled and grabbed my coat off the rack. He helped me into it. It was all I could do to grab my purse as he quickly ushered me out the door.  
  
"How did you do that? I've asked him three times to fix it, plus called him about thirty times unsuccessfully, and you can just ask?"  
  
"I have my ways of getting what I want."  
  
"I guess so," I admitted.  
  
"Speaking of getting what I want, what are you going to wear to my cousin's party?"  
  
"You didn't fix my sink!"  
  
"I didn't say I'd fix it, I said I would get it fixed, and I got it fixed."  
  
"I have to pretend to be your girlfriend? Do you want to remind me again how you managed to rope me into this?"  
  
"They're all married, Scully and they were driving me crazy. I didn't know what to do. They asked me if I had a woman in my life and the only person I could think of that fit that description was you, and I couldn't tell them I was alone, they would have pitied me."  
  
"I can't believe you, Mulder, but I guess I have no choice," I mumbled.  
  
"That's the spirit," he said enthusiastically. "It'll be just like going undercover on a case."  
  
"Except of course it will be your family, and we'll have no case so be solving."  
  
* * * *  
  
"Okay, Mulder, before we get to the party, we should probably solidify a few facts," I suggested in the second hour of our three hour drive to the party. We had a hotel and were staying one night after the party that evening. "How long have we been together?"  
  
"Four years," Mulder suggested.  
  
"Four years? And we still aren't even living together? God you're afraid of commitment," I teased.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"That means I'm over thirty, I work with you so we spend time together every day, we've been sleeping together for four years, and you are still waiting around like I'm getting younger. You know, women can't have kids forever, and the odds of getting married past thirty drop dramatically. What if you get drunk one night and cheat on me, and we aren't together anymore, there's no way I'll ever find happiness."  
  
"Why would our being married help that?"  
  
"It's easier to keep tabs on husbands than boyfriends, and I think if we were married, you'd be more likely to be faithful," I explained.  
  
"I think you're getting carried away with this."  
  
"I'm just telling you, from the point of view of this woman who you are supposedly dating, something about relationships."  
  
"I know plenty about relationships," he insisted.  
  
"Oh yeah, I can tell by all your successful experience," I snapped.  
  
"Scully, what's gotten into you?"  
  
"I just can't believe that you would string me along like that. I mean, you probably tricked me into bed to begin with, and now I'm stuck with you, and you obviously don't care about what I want. You're just one of those damn scared of relationships guys that will never marry me, and never give me the life I have always wanted."  
  
I looked over to the driver's seat to see Mulder wearing a huge grin. "You'd really like to be able to say that wouldn't you? But maybe it's you who isn't ready to get married; maybe I'm just protecting my heart from you. Maybe I've been carrying around the ring for years, but every time I get close to asking you, you manage to unintentionally drive me from doing it."  
  
"I doubt that."  
  
"Scully doubting one of my theories, what a surprise."  
  
* * * *  
  
I latched myself to Mulder's arm as he helped me out of the car when we arrived at his cousin's party after checking in to the hotel and changing into more appropriate clothes. I wore a lavender spaghetti strap knee length dress that made me feel so pretty I could have taken on the world, but on Mulder's arm, I was not only beautiful, I was the luckiest woman alive. "Fox!" a young woman yelled before we even made it in the door.  
  
"Judy," he smiled, giving the woman a hug. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm doing great," two children and a man were walking up behind her. "You remember Mark, and our kids."  
  
"Of course," he shook the man's hand then those of the two little boys.  
  
"And who is this?" she asked, gesturing to me.  
  
"This is Dana," she extended and hand, so I took it.  
  
"You're brave to come meet the family, sure we aren't that big, but man can we scare off the girlfriends." Judy laughed and I felt myself blush.  
  
When we walked into the room there was a wave of hellos that swept to the door. I was introduced to Mulder's four first cousins and their families, his aunts, his uncles, and even his grandmother who, despite her 89 years was quite lively. I was introduced to them all as Dana, which was a much- needed switch from 'Agent Scully,' and was very entertained to hear them all call him Fox. It didn't take long for me to learn that he was more popular among his cousins' sons than he was among his cousins. When the 16 of us sat down at the table he ended up on the end that was unofficially designated the kiddy-table, and I sat next to him on his side closer to the adults. While his cousins told me stories about Mulder growing up, Mulder impressed his audience of ten-year-old boys by talking about monsters we'd chased. I turned away from the women and smiled over at Mulder when he set his hand comfortably on my thy.  
  
After dinner, while the men talked about sports and building things, I helped out in the kitchen cleaning up with the women. "So, how long have you and Fox, been together now?"  
  
"Four years," I answered, rewarding myself for having brought it up in the car.  
  
"Well, don't give up hope in him quite yet. He's always been the type that takes his time when it comes to doing grown up things. He was setting off smoke bombs at every party we had until he was 19, and he's yet t out-grow the kid's table. His parents always used to say it was the Mulder in him, but Sam was never like that, so we would argue that was just insane."  
  
"Oh, I'm quite a way from giving up hope, don't worry. I like him too much not to keep him around."  
  
We all went back out into the living room when the dishes were done, but by the time I went all the chairs were full. I considered sitting on the floor, but Mulder caught my eye and patted his lap. He was sitting in a huge armchair so I figured I could squeeze on there with him without raising too many eyebrows. I sat down on his lap, off to one side so he could still participate in the conversation. I could tell by the way everyone was treating me that our acting was being very well accepted by Mulder's family.  
  
"Looks like you caught yourself a good one there Fox," one of the men said as I laced my fingers through his and looked at our intertwined hands lovingly.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I did." He smiled at me.  
  
"You ever gonna make an honest woman out of her?" his cousin asked. "It seems like you've been telling us about her forever." His comment earned him an elbow in the ribs from his wife who was seated next to him.  
  
"Well, I had to bring her home first, make sure everyone approved, but now I have no reason not to," Mulder told the room. I was shocked by how open he suddenly cam when around his family. "What do you say, Dana?" He looked to me for a response.  
  
I glanced over at him, our faces about level now that his lap was making up for our height difference. He gave me a big smile but his face shone with the fear of a man in love. "Are you asking?" I asked lightly, expecting a kiss on the cheek and to move back on to conversation.  
  
"I guess so," he said.  
  
"Then I guess I wouldn't mind being Mrs. Fox Mulder," I was still smiling, thinking he was kidding. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a ring. He took it out of the box and slid it on my finger as I fell into shock. "You're serious?" I stumbled.  
  
"It looks that way, doesn't it?" he asked, spinning the diamond ring on my finger. I wore a very confused face I'm sure but he gave me a kiss on the cheek and I leaned back into him, trying to figure out exactly what had happened.  
  
* * * *  
  
When we got back to the hotel that night we went to our respective rooms so get ready for bed, knowing the routine we'd fallen into on cases, I dropped over to his room once I was in my pajamas and my teeth had been brushed, just to say goodnight. I knocked on his door and he opened it, his toothbrush still in his mouth. "You were fast tonight," he told me, just before he spit out a mouthful of toothpaste in the sink, knowing we usually finished getting ready for bed in the same amount of time.  
  
I walked in and perched on his bed as he finished with his teeth. He walked out of the bathroom and plopped himself down on the bed as well. "Thanks for doing that for me Scully," he said, running his fingers across my back because that was as far as he could reach from where he was laying.  
  
I turned around and took his hand, fidgeting with it unconsciously as I began to speak. "What are you going to do when they all expect invitations to the wedding?" I asked, a smile playing across my face.  
  
"I was thinking we'd just invite them." I punched him playfully after hearing his response.  
  
He sat up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing his lips to my neck so lightly it could have been an accident.  
  
"Where'd you get the ring?" I asked as he slowly leaned towards the bed, laying us down beside each other. This is not part of our routine, I thought, as I realized that I was being lowered onto his bed at will.  
  
"Maybe I've been carrying around the ring for years," he quoted himself, "just waiting for the perfect chance." 


End file.
